


Axe vs Arrow

by MeganMoonlight



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Action/Adventure, Ambushes and Sneak Attacks, Badass, Canon Trans Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Friendships, Dragon Age Kink Meme, F/F, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Rescue, Sera Swears, Venatori
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-09 16:06:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4355450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganMoonlight/pseuds/MeganMoonlight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Krem and Sera make quite a good team, especially when they work together to break everyone out of a Venatori camp.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Axe vs Arrow

“You seriously carry this big-ass axe around? All the time?”

Krem turned from the herbs on the ground to see Sera sitting on the windowsill of her room in the Herald’s Rest. She was grinning at him and dangling her legs, which meant she was either about to do something that would require keeping his eye on everything, since he knew she liked pulling pranks on people, or she has already done something.

“I mean, I get it, you have muscles for it and everythin’, but if you gotta climb somewhere, or jump on rocks, you will fall down on your ass pretty quickly. That thing is seriously huge.”

"Well, it never happened to me before," he shrugged as he got back to packing the satchel with herbs for their next job. Stitches had his own satchel ready, but years of working had taught them that the more elfroot they had with them, the better, no matter where their next job might take them. 

He glanced at the practice ground when he heard Rocky and Dalish loudly cheering on Skinner and Grim, who were training, both silent, each observing the other with patience and trying to calculate each move to win. He smiled at Dalish’s enthusiasm and turned back to his satchel, just in time to see Sera jumping down from her window.

“Don’t tell me you never walked on slippery rocks.”

"Oh, we did. Just go to the Storm Coast. I’m just good at keeping my balance. And no, I don't carry it around all the time, at least not when I'm here. But it had saved my ass, and the Chief's ass more than once, whenever I did have it with me."

"Yeah, I bet. I saw how you swing that thing around," she replied and sat near him, snagging one elfroot from the pile. "I tried to lift up the one Inky carries around once, and I really don't get how you all can use them. I'll stick to my bow, thanks. More stealthy and all that. No one expects to get hit in the ass with an arrow, you know?"

"Well, no one expects to get hit with an axe as well, if you're good enough."

***

"Shit. Stupid pricks. I'll stick explodin’ arrows in their eyes when I get out of these..."

Krem heard someone cussing. It was quiet, as if muffled, and he realized he must have been unconscious. Not good. He groaned, trying to open his eyes.

Blinking a couple of times, he looked around. He was in a tent and it was dark, that much he saw. The only source of light seemed to be located somewhere outside, far behind him. Also, he couldn't move. Trying to get a hold on himself, he took a few deep breaths and tried to remember what had happened, exactly.

Inquisitor Adaar had asked Sera, Dorian and the Chief to go to the Hissing Wastes to find the Venatori camp they had been informed about. Krem, along with Stitches and Dalish, had gone along, too, as the rest had been sent with Commander Cullen’s forces to the Western Approach. The trip had been going well until they reached the Canyon. The Venatori must have been waiting for them there, because as soon as they reached it, they had been surrounded. Everything else was blurry, but he could guess what had happened after that.

Krem shook his head and as soon as his vision cleared a bit more, he focused on the fact that his arms were numb from sitting tied up in a tent, entry to which was blocked by two people sitting outside. Gladiators, judging by the armors. They were talking quietly, so Krem couldn't make out much besides the boasting and something about receiving a reward for catching the Inquisitor. They wished.

As he looked around the tent again he noticed that the voice he heard when he woke up belonged to Sera, who was sitting near him. She was wriggling and trying to free herself from the bounds and glaring at the guards. Two people lying on the other side of the tent, hopefully only unconscious, were Dalish and Stitches. It meant that if they were lucky, the others were still in the same camp, possibly in the other tents. 

"Sera?"

She turned to him right away, and judging by the expression on her face he was sure she would do to them everything she promised she would as soon as she was free. Sera muttered something else under her nose before sighing.

"Ugh, I will kick their asses when I get out of here. You'll see, they won't know what hit 'em."

She kept talking, but Krem quickly realized what was she doing. She was annoyed, yes, but she also tried to provoke them to see their reaction, but it looked like the guards were too focused on whatever they were talking about, because they didn't even pay attention to what was happening in the tent. Or they were good at pretending they weren’t, but he doubted that, judging by how engrossed they were. It was stupid of them to underestimate the enemy, even if they were bound. 

Krem tried moving around to check how tight the knots were. At least they weren't magical, but they were still tight enough to make even slight movement uncomfortable, especially since he was still in his armor.

"Do you know where the others are?"

She stopped wiggling, glanced briefly at the guards and looked at him again.

"Inky and Dorian are in the camp, bound with somethin’ that started shinin’ when they put it on. Magical, I guess. I heard those two talkin' about it. Haven't heard anythin’ about the big guy, though," she answered and Krem cursed, clenching his fists as much as he could. 

So the Venatori did make sure to bind the Inquisitor and Dorian with magic, but apparently the rest of them were dismissed as not dangerous enough. Or not important, at least. They must have also overlooked Dalish’s skills, probably because of her weird-looking weapon. That was just stupid of them. Krem sighed. He could definitely use the oversight to their advantage. But where was Bull, then? If something had happened... he shook his head. He wouldn't think about that. This was the Iron Bull. He had to be okay. 

Krem tried to move his hands around again, but still nothing. He glanced at the Venatori, but they still seemed to not pay any attention to them, so he turned to Sera.

“I can’t move, my armor is too noisy,” he whispered and she squinted at him. “If you can reach the binds and get me out, I’ll untie you next. We need to find the rest. And our weapons.”

She bit her lip, but after some maneuvering they were sitting back to back, Krem facing the entry to the tent to keep an eye on any movement outside. It didn’t take Sera more than a few minutes to untie him without making any noise, and as soon as he could feel his arms again and he could move his fingers, he untied her as well. As Dalish and Stitches were still unconscious and there were no potions anywhere in sight, they just untied the two Chargers quickly and Krem moved to sit on the ground again, to not raise suspicions. 

Sera went to the back of the tent and gently lifted to material to look out when Krem unhooked one piece of his armor, right by his left hand. It was the one that kept falling off for some reason, but as he handed it to Sera, Krem was very grateful he always forgot to fix it. She ripped the tent quietly, smirking and pointing for him to keep watch. Before she left she made a couple of signs with her hands that Krem really hoped meant “I’ll go find weapons and then we’ll kick their asses.”

As he was left to keep watch he managed to notice that the two other tents visible outside weren’t guarded, which meant there probably weren’t as many Venatori currently in the camp. If that was the case, where were the others? They had to find them soon.

The camp was suspiciously quiet, save for the voices of the Venatori and crackling of the nearby fire, and it was difficult not to get anxious, especially when Sera was taking quite long. But on the brighter side if she had been caught he would have heard about it by then. He had enough time to more or less listen to the Venatori hoping to learn anything and think of how to get to the other tents. Even if it was difficult to look around without making a sound, he knew enough to come up with a plan. After all it wasn’t the worst situation he had found himself in by far. Fortunately, the jobs Bull’s Chargers had taken had prepared him for a lot of situations.

He didn’t realize Sera was back until she poked him in the head with one finger. When he turned his head she was holding two daggers in front of his face and as he took one, she pointed to the guards sitting outside. He only nodded.

Getting rid of those two wasn’t difficult in the least. After waiting a while to confirm his suspicions that those were indeed the only two guards in this part of the camp, they left the bodies behind their tent, covering them with sand as much as they could – they were in hurry after all.

“If we go this way we should find Inky. Almost everyone’s sittin’ there. The third part of the camp is almost empty, just like this one. Those pricks are just sittin’ there and talkin’ bullshit.”

“Good. Maybe we’ll be able to surprise them, then. Come on, let’s go find our weapons first. How many guards have you seen?” Krem looked around, noticing numerous boxes and closed chests. “I really want to get out of here.” 

“Don’t know, many. Ten? Fifteen? Not like I had much time to count them or anything,” she rolled her eyes and Krem just snorted when she threw a rock at him, but missed, most likely on purpose.

Their weapons weren’t far fortunately, but they still had to get to the third part of the camp to get them. The Venatori weren’t as stupid as he assumed, but stupid enough to not pay attention to what happens in the back of the tents, looked like. Krem knew this type. It was easy to lure them out, since they all seemed to be convinced of their own power and abilities so much that they thought they could deal with everything individually. That was their mistake.

Sera found her bow without any problems and stuck out her tongue at him when he grabbed the staff that laid near him and attached a sword that was least damaged to his belt. The Chief could fight even without a weapon, but the Inquisitor and Dorian could use something, just in case. He found his axe in one of the chests and after checking that no one was waiting outside, they left. They tried waking up Dalish and Stitches, but when it didn’t work they just left daggers for them to find quickly when they woke up later, since they seemed to be only unconscious, nothing else.

“Come on, we have to move.”

“You really don’t have to remind me,” he murmured as they left the tent. They really had to hurry. Krem gave Sera the staff to strap to her back and soon they were on the way to the main, and according to Sera the most guarded, part of the camp.

The place was surrounded by rocks and bushes so they had to be careful to not make much sound, but it was not the biggest problem. The most difficult was trying to work out how to approach the fire in a way that could give them advantage over the Venatori. Shit. He hated working in the Hissing Wastes so much.

They were able to get close enough to see the Inquisitor and Dorian bound, sitting near the Venatori mage who was talking to them. Dorian seemed to be not impressed with the speech, not very surprising, really, while the Inquisitor looked like she were to snap all the Venatori in two if she wasn’t tied up. Krem knew the feeling very well. Iron Bull, however was still nowhere to be seen. Fuck.

This part of the camp was heavily guarded, at least twenty people were there, just like Sera had said. Each tent was observed from all the sides and they wouldn’t be able to go in unnoticed, even if they had more resources and were better prepared. The Inquisitor and the mages were clearly much more useful to the Venatori than anyone else. He let out a breath and looked at Sera. 

Subversion it was, then.

It looked like the rogue came to the same conclusion, because she nodded at him quickly and grabbed a handful of arrows. She stood right behind one of the trees, so that she was surrounded by shadows and prepared herself to shoot.

“And that’s why I said arrows are much better than your axe, yeah?” Krem could hear her smirking and he could barely stop himself from rolling his eyes, but a it was difficult not to smile at her tone. ”I’ll stay here and shoot them, you go in. I jump in when they focus on you. Sounds okay?”

“We’ll see how that goes,” Krem replied, but nodded. Tightening the grip on his axe he stepped closer to the bushes to get closer look at the camp again. Well, waiting much longer won’t get them anywhere. He raised his hand slightly, giving her a sign, then turned and nodded, holding his axe firmly in his hands. She started shooting.

Two Venatori Marksmen started shouting then dropped dead and Krem ran to the nearest bigger rock and jumped to attack the Gladiator standing near the fire, who started screaming at the others.

“Catch him! Now! And find out who was shooting!”

In a second the Venatori were up and everything became chaotic. Krem had to dodge the arrows and getting stabbed, as he sent one of the Gladiators into the fire in one, well aimed kick. The next three went at him right in the next second, not paying attention to the body they were trampling. Fuck. Not good. He dodged between the tent and the small wooden building just as he saw two Gladiators who were running after him fall down, arrows sticking out of them and then he heard Sera’s loud voice: “Eat this, you fucker! Surprise!”

Turning his head to see who was making the noise to his right he saw a Spellbinder running at him, his weapon out and ready. He just swung his axe to force the attacker back and shit, he didn’t notice the that he also broke one of the windows of the building. He kicked the Spellbinder back before he could do anything and hit him right in the chest, his axe crushing the man’s armor, the blood spilling down on the ground as Krem pulled the axe out. 

Only then he heard a sound coming from the building. Barely noticeable among the screaming and racket around them, but loud enough to catch Krem’s attention. He looked through the window carefully, just in case it was a next trap, but instead he saw a big, familiar figure on the floor, his arms and legs bound. He was trying to get himself out. 

Krem broke down the door without any problems, and just as he was about to go in he felt someone grab his hair and force him down.

“Krem! There are two behind you!”

“No shit, Chief! Like I didn’t fucking notice!”

He did fell on the ground, but still hit the Venatori in the knee with is elbow, then in the chest as the woman fell forward on her knees. As he stood up he noticed a dagger sticking out of the attacker’s face and soon Dalish appeared by his side, already reaching for the dagger again, her weird looking staff supporting her. 

“Go get the Boss, I’ll teach those assholes how to fight properly,” she told him and quickly ran in the direction of the fire, screaming at the Venatori. Krem went to the building again.

Iron Bull was wiggling on the ground, bound to the floor, and Krem would have laughed at the sight if they weren’t in the middle of the Venatori camp. However, the situation was too good to pass up. When will he get a second chance like this one?

“Look at you, Chief. Looks like you’re the one tied up this time. How does that make you feel?”

“Ugh, seriously, Krem? Now?” Bull would probably have rolled his eye if he weren’t so busy trying to break down the binds, but Krem couldn’t help giggling.

“Just saying. At least you weren’t gagged, yeah? Shit, I’ll have to shatter those with my axe. Just don’t move now, okay?”

Bull stilled and looked at the door, observing what was happening outside and Krem hit the first chain with his axe a few times, then the next one. They were heavy and it took him some time, but it could have been worse. Just when he was about to shatter the last one, he heard someone running to the house. Bull roared loudly and as both his hands were now free, he hit the Venatori in the chest, sending him into the nearest wall with a loud crash.

“Come on, Krem!”

“Shut up, Chief, and don’t move now.”

As soon as they left the building he saw Sera shooting at four Marksmen while Stitches was getting their attention away from her. He looked at the red marks on Stitches’ pants and one arm, but then Krem noticed someone moving in the bushes near Sera.

“Sera, to your left!” He screamed when he noticed a Zealot running in her direction and she jumped back, sticking one arrow right in his eye with a satisfied “Thanks!”

The Inquisitor and Dorian were already free and fighting as well, Dorian sending fire spells left and right and gracefully dodging swords of the attackers, as the Inquisitor fought with three Spellbinders, cutting off one’s hand, then kicking the next one back. Krem saw a Gladiator walking behind her as she was shielding herself from a Brute and he ran to her right away.

In a few moves he was near the Inquisitor. Using the unguarded moment of the Venatori, he cut off his head with one precise cut before the man could reach the Inquisitor.

“That was badass!” he heard Sera yell from somewhere behind him, and only when he turned around he noticed that she was looking right at him, her opponents on the ground around her, just as Stitches sat down on the ground heavily. Yet, Krem couldn’t help grinning back.

“Told you an axe can be stealthy too, if you do it right!”

***

When they finally cleared the Venatori camp, they were all rather exhausted. Not enough that they would make a longer stop in this particular camp, but they could catch a breath at least. And they did recognize where they were, roughly, but still, so they could mention the news about a camp to the Spymaster and the Commander.

They didn’t have any healing potions left, those were probably all already used by the Venatori and Dorian did what he could, but for the deepest wounds they used mashed elfroot wrappings and Stitches’ skills. He was complaining that the Venatori took everything he prepared, but he still managed to prepare wrappings and ointment to treat their wounds.

Dalish kept complaining about a headache, apparently she woke up and she thought her head was about to explode, but she still could fight. Dorian was complaining about sand everywhere, while Sera was helping the Inquisitor wrap a wound on her arm. It had stopped bleeding already but they wanted to make sure it won’t get infected. Sera stuck out her tongue a bit when she was wrapping the wound and it contrasted with the furrowed brows as she concentrated on her task. As soon as she finished they both stood up and the Inquisitor pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

“That was… mostly fun, yeah?” Sera said as she put her hands on the Inquisitor’s hips. 

“Mostly,” Krem nodded and winced as he tried to stand up. It felt like he had been hit in the leg with something heavy during the fight and he would probably feel it for the next few days. Not to mention that he will have to check the back of his armor and his binder, since he didn’t know if the hit to the back had damaged them. Fuck, that was exactly what he needed. He shook his head and turned to Sera. “Changed your mind about axes yet?”

The Inquisitor turned to him, one eyebrow raised in question, and then she looked at Sera once again.

“Well, the arrows are still more stealthy,” Sera answered as she picked up her bow and arrows from the ground and walked up to Krem. “And you will still fall on your ass when you have to climb somethin’ with that,” she pointed at Krem’s axe, “on your back. But it did look badass.”

She punched him in the arm piece gently, still grinning and Krem snorted. “At least I won’t run out of the arrows in the last second.”

“Yeah, but then I still have a dagger.”

Krem only shook his head in answer, when Dalish wrapped her arm around his shoulders and smiled at Sera. “And Krem can still punch anyone in the face.”

“You don’t like axes or something?” The Inquisitor looked at Sera right then, changing the subject and strapping her own axe on her back as the rogue winked at her playfully, making everyone snicker.

“Nah, yours I like.”

“Well, since we all seem to be more or less in one piece and ready, I believe we can get back to Skyhold, yes?” Dorian looked around himself with distaste and then sighed. “I have absolutely no idea why anyone would want to spend here more than a few hours.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” the Inquisitor said and put her hand on Krem’s shoulder as she moved to grab her satchel from the ground. “Let’s go, I’m buying drinks tonight. Well, later today, really. Most likely after we get some sleep. I think we all deserve it. Especially Krem and Sera. Thank you for the help, Krem.”

“No problem, Your Worship,” Krem replied right away. “I’m glad I could help.”

“The Inquisitor is right. That was quite a show, Cremisius,” Dorian spoke up and Krem couldn’t help turning to him. He was not prepared for _that_ one. They hadn’t talked much overall, not counting Dorian’s visits to the Herlad’s Rest to drink, so he didn’t really expect any kind of compliments from him. “I do not think I have ever seen such an… entertaining expression on a Venatori’s face before, especially as he realized he should not underestimate the enemy.”

“Thanks,” he replied shortly, nodding in gratitude. He didn’t take his eyes off the mage, observing his reaction, but Dorian only nodded back. A smile on his face was not the usual sarcastic one. Who would have thought.

“We were pretty much badass. I have some wine back in my room and we can celebrate some there, what do you say, Inky?” Sera winked at the Inquisitor before grinning at Krem. “And then we’ll join you.”

Krem, as well as Bull, Dorian and Stitches, snorted at her tone, but it was difficult not to agree. 

Somehow Sera and Dalish still had energy to run ahead to check if the road was clear, while the Inquisitor and Dorian ended up talking about what they found out from the Venatori, Stitches following them.

Krem and Bull ended up walking behind the rest and Krem noticed Bull was watching them, most likely checking if they could hear him, before he placed a hand on Krem’s shoulder gently, as if not wanting to put pressure on his shoulder and back. Of course, if anyone would have noticed, it would be Bull. Not that Krem wasn’t grateful.

“You okay there, Krem?”

“Yeah, Chief. Nothing some sleep and a bath won’t cure, I think. You?”

“I wasn’t the one who got kicked in the leg and in the back.”

“Yeah, but you were the one tied up on the floor,” Bull did not look impressed by his answer and Krem rolled his eyes, sighing. “I’m fine, I promise.”

“Do you need me to carry you? Because I could…”

“I’m okay. Really.”

“Good.”

A walk through the Hissing Wastes was dull and monotonous, not counting the wild life attacking them, but as Sera started a game of who comes up with the worst-sounding nicknames for everyone, Krem couldn’t help joining in.

It would be a great story to tell the others after they get back to Skyhold.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [*THIS*](http://dragonage-kink.livejournal.com/13890.html?thread=56243522#t56243522) prompt at [Dragonage-Kink](http://dragonage-kink.livejournal.com/).
> 
> I loved working on this fic, and it ended up being longer than I expected, but this prompts was so good! Krem and Sera are badass and I really love the idea of them being badass friends. I also included the snark, the teasing and more friendships, because it just worked so well in the fic.  
> It was my first time writing from Krem's POV, so I hope it worked. Comments and opinions are appreciated.  
> Enjoy!
> 
> Thanks for beta to **[lil-1337](http://lil-1337.livejournal.com/)**.


End file.
